Empowering Citizens Through Technology and Participation

Description

The International eParticipation Symposium is back!

MAJOR CITIZEN EMPOWERMENT CONFERENCE COMES TO LONDON!
28th and 29th February 2008

A major International Symposium – ‘Empowering Citizens Through Technology and Participation’ - will discuss the increasing importance of citizen engagement in decision making between the 28th and 29th of February, 2008 in the Congress Centre in London's West End.

With the launch of the Communities and Local Government’s (CLG) ‘Action Plan for Community Empowerment’, citizen engagement is an emerging hot topic in the UK. As the Rt Hon. Hazel Blears MP, Secretary of State at the Department for Communities and Local Government recently stated:

“We are paving the way for the new statutory ‘duty to involve’ local people that comes into force in 2009…….it’s time to step up a gear; to go further and faster and to be more ambitious about what we achieve. The kind of change we envisage means change at a very local level; devolution right to the doorstep”

Faced with increased pressure to include citizens in local decision making, public administrators have a growing need for new consultation strategies. The forthcoming International Symposium will address this need through a number of concurrent workshops which will examine:

• How the new ‘Participation Agenda’ affects local government
• How new technologies can help to engage citizens
• What tools are available for Local Authorities and politicians?
• How policymakers, Local Authorities and community groups can build for success.

The Symposium is managed by an International Steering Group including the UK Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG), the International Centre of Excellence for Local eDemocracy (ICELE), the Council of Europe, the United Nations’ Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) and the National Association of Secretaries of State, USA (NASS).

To register for the event and for more information visit www.empowerment-symposium.com.